Hemorrhoids are one of the most common issues in America today. Studies indicate that by the age of 50, 50% of Americans have been diagnosed with hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids are clusters of swollen blood vessels that begin to swell into the alimentary canal of humans. At first hemorrhoids can easily go undetected, but if left alone can turn into the source of serious pain. Worse, if left unattended for a long enough period of time, hemorrhoids will begin to prolapse.
That is, untreated hemorrhoids will descend through the alimentary canal and extend through one's anus. Additionally, there exist “external” hemorrhoids which form not inside the alimentary canal, but around one's anus.
There are a number of different methods to treat and/or remove hemorrhoids, however, one such method, ligation, has gained popularity. Over the years, ligation is the act of closing off the blood vessels in the swollen hemorrhoid tissue. Over time, due to the lack of blood flow, the ligated hemorrhoid will eventually wither and fall off, painlessly. Ligation has been performed as early as 460 BC, however since then a number of apparatuses and methods have been developed to perform this task. That said, the prior art leaves a number of areas to be improved upon. For example, the devices taught by the prior art are notoriously difficult to operate with gloves on which is a prerequisite to ligating hemorrhoids. Further, the devices of the prior art are incapable of ligating hemorrhoids placed in the more remote areas of the alimentary canal.
Thus, there is a need for an elastic band ligation device that is easy to operate while wearing medical gloves, that also provides the ability to ligate the hard-to-reach places in a patient's alimentary canal. The present invention and its embodiments meet and exceed these objectives.
Review of related technology:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,273 pertains to an elastic band ligation device for that treatment of hemorrhoids. The device permits a doctor to band hemorrhoidal tissue without the help of an assistant and does not have to be attached to an aspirator. The device has the capability of suctioning tissue into a tubular member before banding. The device also has a plastic inner tubular member retains a stretched elastic band over a front end of an inner tubular member which extends for a sufficient length for insertion into the rectum of a patient. A plunger in the tubular member may be slid backwards to draw a suction in the tubular member to draw tissue in through the front end. A plastic outer pusher sleeve fits over the tubular member and is adapted to push the elastic band off the front end of the tubular member to capture the hemorrhoidal tissue drawn into the tubular member.
U.S. Patent Publication 2014/0121679 pertains to an elastic band ligation device for treating hemorrhoids and treatment method are provided. The device includes an inner tubular member for retaining an elastic band over the front end and the entire device is insertable into the rectum of a patient. The device is equipped with a plunger which generates suction for drawing hemorrhoidal tissue into the inner tubular member through the front end. A plastic outer tubular pusher sleeve has an arced configuration corresponding to the arcuate inner tubular member to provide a limited friction fit over the inner tubular member. The pusher sleeve is equipped with a thumb pusher to allow the outer tubular pusher sleeve to be pushed towards the front end of the inner tubular member and release the elastic band from the front end of the inner tubular member to engage hemorrhoidal tissue extending through the opening in the inner tubular member.
Various devices are known in the art. However, their structure and means of operation are substantially different from the present invention. Such devices fail to provide a device that can be easily operated through medical gloves and that provide a tool that can be used on a wider array of hemorrhoidal tissue. Further, the prior art teaches devices that are difficult to release suction with, provide for a poor fit within a patients rectum, and are so large that significant discomfort is caused in a patient being treated. At least one embodiment of this invention is presented in the drawings below and will be described in more detail herein.